Receptions

Left to right are the Young Philanthropists of Aspen: Ricky Frias, Austin Hills, Whitney Mufson and Simon Dolginow, who have been helping at The Right Door. (MEH)

The Aspen Valley Medical Foundation recently held its annual meeting and reception at the Hotel Jerome. Everyone was in high spirits after realizing the foundation is one of the major backers of Aspen Valley Hospital. The AVMF also funds many civic and medical programs such as: Neighbor to Neighbor; Pathfinders, which assists people with cancer; and The Right Door, which helps people with addictions. It also provides scholarships for people who are studying nursing.

The president of the board of the Aspen Valley Medical Foundation is Dr. Archer Bishop, and Kris Marsh is the director. Offices are in Aspen Valley Hospital.Longtime Aspen residents now living in Tucson, Ariz., Ken and Martie Sterling celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Dec. 28 at their home. Granddaughter Jane Gosney, 16-year-old daughter of Eric and Gwyn Gosney of Basalt, hosted a party for them. Among the guests were ex-Aspenites Werner Kuster and DeDe McCabe and friends such as Pam Marvin, widow of movie actor Lee Marvin. Jane is a baccalaureate and National Honors student at Aspen High School and is presently planning to follow in the footsteps of her uncle, the late Dr. Harold Whitcomb, in premed studies. Ken and Martie built the Heatherbed Lodge at Aspen Highlands in 1959. Martie was an editor and columnist for Ski magazine and eventually covered the globe as a travel writer. She and Ken attended Syracuse University in New York just a few years before I did.Former Aspenite Jan Fox of California is spending two weeks with Janet Guthrie, who recently lost her husband, Warren Levine. Jan used to rent an apartment from Janet.The Red Brick Center for the Arts recently held a reception for artists Eduardo Cagna, Terry Stephenson, Maggie Butler, Betsy Dunbar and Jack Brendlinger. The exhibition of paintings and sculpture will be on display at the Red Brick until Feb. 27.In addition to the exhibit of photographs taken by Ferenc Berko in India during the 1930s and 1940s that is hanging in the gallery at Paepcke Auditorium, another exhibit of his work – “Ferenc Berko, Selected Works: Aspen and Beyond”- will be on view until Feb. 22 at the Sardella Fine Art Gallery. Both shows are curated by Berko’s granddaughter, Mirte Berko of Berko Photography. The Sardella show includes black-and-white abstract photographs of Aspen from the early 1950s, photos from India and the visionary color series from the 1950s.The annual James Bond extravaganza that is a fundraiser for the Aspen Center for Integral Health is Feb. 17, from 6:30 p.m. until midnight at the St. Regis Aspen. The evening includes gaming at the casino, a silent and live auction, dinner and dancing to the Beatlemania … Bennie and the Jets band. For reservations call (970) 920-2957. Event chairwoman is Heidi Houston, and the event committee includes Jessie Berg, Mardell Burkholder, Jenny Frank, Donna Gardner, Elise Groves, Elizabeth Means, Albert Prast, Laura Welch, Cheryl Wyly and Jennifer Young. On Sunday, March 18, Betty Weiss will host a performance by the Montage Music Society that includes Darita Uranovsky on violin, Marc Moskovitz on cello and Debra Ayers on piano. They will feature the rediscovered Zemlinsky Cello Sonata, which they premiered at the Library of Congress. The concert will be at Betty’s home and attendance is limited. RSVP is a must. Call (970) 925-2906 for reservations.The President’s Club of the Medical Foundation now has 136 members who give a minimum gift of $2,500 with funds going to the hospital. Aspen Valley Hospital received an award of $1,107,023.00. There is also the Dick Butera Award, which gives 10 people awards of $10,000 each. The people receiving awards this year were: Chris Barber, Scarlett Bland, Ellen Craven, Eric Guthman, Sandy Clausman, Janice Martin, Caalina Rulus, Jeff Spiroff, Lisa Van Tyme and Eric Van Meter.

Sandra Dallas, who lived in Aspen at one time and visits here frequently, will have a new book published in April titled “Tallgrass.” The book is set in the small farming town of Ellis, Colo., and the Japanese-American internment camp called Tallgrass. The story line is about the problems of the Japanese and the residents of the small town, including a murder for which the displaced people are blamed. Sandra has also written several other novels including “New Mercies,” “The Persian Pickle Club,” “Buster Midnight’s Cafe” and “Alice’s Tulips.”Undercurrent … This is the time of year when I was studying journalism and English at Syracuse University that I would take the bus downtown to Edwards department store and buy a batiste blouse with a tiny bouquet of cloth flowers (at the neck) to wear in the coming springtime.